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Sainsbury's coconut milk and lime shower cream is part of the Active:Naturals range, which I've come to like due to their gorgeous fragrances. I've found the products themselves to be generally very good, but was slightly disappointed by this one.

**Packaging***

The cream comes packaged in a straightforward flat-bottomed tube, which is perfect for standing on the side of the bath and of course the last dregs of product drip down to the bottom and are easy to get out - useful for people like me who are sticklers for using up every last drop! The cap is easy to remove/replace with slippery, wet hands and the hole that the shower cream comes out of is not too large, so any accidents of a 'whoops, there goes my shower gel through my fingers and down the drain' nature are unlikely to happen!

***Consistency***

I noticed this is called shower cream rather than gel, so I expected it to be a little thicker than it was. Texture-wise it's jut like any other shower gel, really - though not transluscent. It does lather up into a nice creamy foam though, especially if you use a shower puff.

***Fragrance***

Coconut milk and lime seems an odd combination to me - both tropical fruits, but with completely different styles of fragrance. I find coconut sweet and relaxing, while lime is sharper and, as the package blurb says "invigorating" and guaranteed to "refresh the senses". When I first used this product (sitting in the bath) the coconut smell was the first thig I noticed, and it was almost uncomfortably sweet until the lime notes kicked in and added a bit of a zing. Using it under the shower I noticed that the lime fragrance was more overpowering than the coconut and seemed to unfold more quickly amid the hot steam and running water. The scent is nice enough but I think the lime on its own would be better - there's something about the artificial sweetness of the coconut that reminds me of the banana-flavoured antibiotic medicine I was forced to take as a little kid. Not something I want to be thinking about in the shower nowadays, thank you very much!

***Effect***

It got me clean - to be fair not many shower gels fail on this rudimentary point - and yes, my skin did feel invigorated and quite soft, though this product is definitely no substitute for a layer of body lotion after the shower.

***Verdict***

This shower cream is fine if you just want a shower to get clean, but not if you're looking to give your skin extra hydration or pampering. The smell is ok but a little cloying. I'd probably use it again but wouldn't go out of my way to buy it even though it is fairly cheap (£1.94 for 200ml). It wouldn't put me off buying other products from this range though - I think it' just a case of trial and error.